The third woman at the center of the trial had only recently met Masterson through mutual friends in the church, which she had joined as a teenager. Jurors could not agree on a verdict on her allegations, deadlocking 8-4 in favor of conviction. She said that it eventually led to him raping her twice late in 2001, though he is only charged with one instance, a morning when she woke to find Masterson raping her.
She previously testified that Masterson grew increasingly physically and sexually abusive in their years together. THE FIRST ACCUSERĪ model and actor who was Masterson’s girlfriend from 1996 to 2002 took the stand to open the trial. Masterson had pleaded not guilty and his lawyers have repeatedly denied all of the allegations. It was also, according to prosecutors, the scene of all three crimes. At the time of the alleged assaults, his career was at its peak, and his house near Hollywood with a backyard pool and Jacuzzi was a social hub. Masterson, 47, an actor since childhood, got his major break when he was cast as Stephen Hyde on the retro sitcom “That ‘70s Show,” which also starred Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace and would run on Fox from 1998 until 2006. The defense had on its witness list Hugh Martin Whitt, a current high-level Scientologist who is Headley’s estranged stepfather, though did not call him or any other witnesses before resting. The prosecution’s expert, Claire Headley, is a former official in Scientology leadership who became a staunch church foe, suing it in 2009 over her experience. The church vehemently denied having any such policy. All three of his accusers are former members who grew disillusioned with the institution in the aftermath of their alleged assaults, saying that church officials told them what had happened to them was not rape, and that its policies prevented them from going to police. Masterson is a prominent member of the church. It played a bigger role in his retrial, with Judge Charlaine Olmedo allowing expert testimony on Scientology that she denied the first time. The Church of Scientology loomed large at Masterson’s trial. Defense attorney Philip Cohen made clear to jurors that ”there is no drugging charge.” A BIGGER ROLE FOR SCIENTOLOGY The defense says there is no such evidence beyond the women’s stories, and suggested the prosecution was using the stories because of the absence of evidence of any force or violence. He does this to take away his victims’ ability to consent,” Deputy District Attorney Ariel Anson told jurors during her closing argument May 16. “The defendant drugs his victims to gain control. Previously, the drugging could only be implied when the women testified to feeling disoriented, losing memory and going unconscious to a degree that could not be explained by the alcohol they had consumed. A judge in the second trial allowed the prosecution to say directly that Masterson drugged all three women before raping them, in what may be the biggest difference from the first trial.
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